The Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission confirmed on 1 September that they will engage in an open hunger strike, adding that 1,200 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons will take part.

A day prior, the Israeli prison authorities violently suppressed the Palestinian prisoners ahead of the announced hunger strike, due to the public’s fear of an intifada erupting inside of the occupied West Bank prisons.

The Captive Movement confirmed the prisoners’ continuation of the strike, remarking, “we are waging this battle with determination to stop this attack and this blatant encroachment on our lives and our achievements.”

The Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission responded to claims that the strike would be postponed, confirming they were invalid, and that they had unanimously agreed to the date.

The commission called upon all Palestinians to prepare to “start this battle as soon as our prisoners start the strike,” urging activists and those in support of the cause to be wary over the next few weeks.

The strike comes one day after Palestinian political prisoner Khalil Awawdeh, who was arrested without trial or charges under Israeli “administrative detention,” ended his six-month-long hunger strike, following an agreement for his release.

The agreement was reached after negotiations between his lawyer and a military court. The release is scheduled for 2 October.

“This is another victory in the series of wins for administrative detainees who led a struggle for their release and freedom. I am ending the strike after I received word of my victory,” Khalil Awawdeh said in a video recorded statement.

According to WAFA news agency, the Palestinian detainees are demanding that Israel put an end to the so-called ‘administrative detention’, which acts as a means for arbitrary arrests, and for keeping detainees in prison without charge or trial.

The news agency added that 4,450 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli prisons, including 32 women and 160 minors, as well as 200 chronically ill prisoners.

Israel is the only country in the world that prosecutes children in military courts, robbing them of their basic legal rights.

According to human rights group Addameer, the Israeli army has imprisoned more than 12,000 Palestinian children since the year 2000.